President Petr Pavel flew to Morocco for a private holiday on 2 October 2026 on an aircraft belonging to the family of the businessman Pavel Hubáček; the president's office said the aircraft had been chartered by a group of participants in the trip.
President Petr Pavel travelled to Morocco on Friday, 2 October 2026, for a private holiday. He flew with a group of friends with whom he has long gone motorcycling. According to iDNES.cz, a Gulfstream aircraft took off from Václav Havel Airport Prague a little after four in the afternoon, heading for the Moroccan city of Ouarzazate.[1][2]
The aircraft and the costs
The aircraft belongs to the family of the businessman Pavel Hubáček, founder of the Creditas group. The president's office confirmed to Deník N that Pavel flew on this aircraft.[1][2] Vít Kolář, the Castle's director of communication, said: “The president does not know Mr Hubáček personally. The aircraft was chartered by a group of participants in the expedition, and they split the costs among themselves, including the president.”[2]
According to iDNES.cz, Lucie Brunclíková, marketing and communication director of the Creditas group, said that the aircraft belongs to the Hubáček family and that on the given date it was chartered, on standard commercial terms, to a private person who was not the president of the republic. The lessor, she said, cannot provide information about passengers or comment on the purpose of their trips.[1][2]
Consequences for the elections
Because of the holiday, Pavel will not take part in the municipal and Senate elections. The president would otherwise have voted in the municipality of Černouček, where he has his permanent residence. The Castle described his absence as a planning mistake.[1][2]
Related articles: Municipal and Senate elections 2026, Petr Pavel, President Pavel's absence from the municipal election in Černouček (October 2026), Černouček
Chronology
- — President Petr Pavel returned from a private trip abroad and cast his vote in the municipal elections in Černouček, although he had earlier announced that he would not vote. Seznam Zprávy Deník N
- — On 9 October 2026, President Petr Pavel returned from holiday in Morocco, voted in the municipal elections in Černouček and flew back to Casablanca by private plane the same day. Echo24 Novinky.cz
- — On 8 October 2026 the municipality of Černouček in the Litoměřice District was preparing for the municipal elections without President Petr Pavel, who, according to his office, will not vote there because of a private trip abroad; the municipality has 275 voters. ČTK / České noviny Blesk.cz
- — President Petr Pavel flew to Morocco on 2 October 2026 for a private holiday on an aircraft owned by the family of businessman Pavel Hubáček; according to the presidential office, the plane was chartered by a group of participants in the trip, who shared the costs among themselves, the president included. Deník N Seznam Zprávy
Pages linking here
- Municipal and Senate elections 2026
- President Pavel's absence from the municipal election in Černouček (October 2026)
Municipal elections in Černouček
On 8 October 2026 the municipality of Černouček in the Litoměřice area was preparing for the municipal elections without President Petr Pavel, who votes there. The president's office announced that he would not vote in the municipal elections because of a private trip abroad, and said that he regretted the planning mistake.[3][4]
According to mayor Lucie Kavánová, the municipality has 275 voters. In 2022 turnout was 41.57 per cent. Seven councillors are elected in the municipality and two groupings are running, whereas previously there was one candidate list.[3][4]
Return to vote on 9 October 2026
On Friday, 9 October 2026, President Petr Pavel returned to Czechia and shortly before 3 p.m. cast his vote in the municipal elections in the municipality of Černouček, where he has his permanent residence. According to Deník N, he arrived from his holiday in North Africa shortly after noon [5][6].
According to Flightradar24 data cited by Seznam Zprávy, a private Hawker 800 jet of the company Sarah Airways landed at Václav Havel Airport Prague from Casablanca at 13:54. The company is based in Casablanca and specialises in transporting VIPs and in medical flights. The aircraft was supposed to return to Africa the same day [5].
After voting, Pavel said that he had always considered elections extremely important and that a president should set an example. He described his departure on holiday as an error of judgement. According to Seznam Zprávy, he said that he had been looking for a way to return and vote the whole time. He saw the criticism as partly justified and partly exaggerated [5][6].
Novinky reported that after casting his vote he was returning to Morocco. According to them, the Castle had not ruled out a return after the criticism, but maintained that the originally announced absence stood [7].
The return flight and reactions on 9 October 2026
According to Novinky.cz, President Petr Pavel left Casablanca airport on 9 October 2026 at 7:56 and landed in Prague at 13:45. He came back to Václav Havel Airport Prague before four in the afternoon and flew back at 16:07. The outlet and Echo24 identify the aircraft as a private Hawker 900XP of the Moroccan company Sarah Airways, registration CN-RBS; according to Flightradar24, flight SAW2982 went from Prague to Casablanca. Novinky.cz estimated the cost of chartering the aircraft at 30,000 to 45,000 euros, roughly 750,000 to 1.13 million korunas [8][9].
Payment for the trip
According to Seznam Zprávy, cited by iDNES.cz, Castle spokesman Vít Kolář said that neither public budgets nor the Office of the President of the Republic were burdened by the trip and that the president pays the expenses from his own money. According to iDNES.cz, it is not known how much the trip cost. Kolář later told the iDNES.cz editors that he does not have all the information because it was a private trip [10]. According to Echo24, on the morning of 9 October the Castle denied that the office had taken part in planning or paying for the trip, and did not answer questions about the costs of Friday's journey from Morocco and back. The Castle has no information on the costs of the security detail that accompanied the president, and according to the outlet the Presidential Protection Service has not yet commented on the matter [9][10].
Notification of Morocco
Seznam Zprávy, citing Echo24, reported that the Moroccan government had known about the president's return since Wednesday, 7 October. Foreign Minister Petr Macinka confirmed that the Czech side had informed the Moroccan foreign ministry in advance, by diplomatic note, about the interruption of the visit and about the return [9].
Reactions of politicians
According to iDNES.cz, SPD chairman Tomio Okamura said that the president had returned because of media pressure. MP Filip Turek (Motoristé sobě) called the return “environmentally tragic” and urged the president to publish the invoices for the jet. ODS chairman Martin Kupka called the move in Líbeznice “a very strong signal” and the return from Africa the right decision. The South Moravian governor and Senate candidate Jan Grolich said after casting his vote in Velatice that it was a good symbol [10].
Sources
- Deník N — 2 October 2026
- Seznam Zprávy — 2 October 2026
- ČTK / České noviny — 8 October 2026
- Blesk.cz — 8 October 2026
- Seznam Zprávy — 9 October 2026
- Deník N — 9 October 2026
- Novinky.cz — 9 October 2026
- Novinky.cz — 9 October 2026
- Echo24 — 9 October 2026
- iDNES.cz — 9 October 2026